From Ashes of Scandals to His Embrace novel Chapter 90

Adolphus watched the three of them, all on the same wavelength, and bit his lip. He couldn’t help feeling a little left out, like he was the only outsider in the room.

He offered Laurinda another spoonful of oatmeal. The seriousness in his eyes faded, replaced by a slightly hurt expression. “Pretty sure Jasper’s tired of having me around.”

Laurinda gave him a look of sympathy and nodded. “You’re not wrong. It’s not just a feeling. He really is over you. Those two are basically glued together now. Don’t waste your energy fighting it, just accept your fate.”

Eating slowly was starting to tire Laurinda out. She cupped Adolphus’s hand with her own little bandaged hands and finished the rest of the oatmeal in one go.

“Finally full,” she sighed contentedly.

Watching her look so satisfied, Adolphus’s eyes softened. He pulled out a tissue, gently wiping her mouth. “How are you feeling? Does anything still hurt? Want me to give you another massage in a bit?”

Laurinda stretched a little and realized she felt a lot better than yesterday. She grinned at him and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good.”

If Adolphus was offering to pamper her, she definitely wasn’t going to say no.

Adolphus finished off what was left of her breakfast, tidied up the table, and glanced at the two boys still sitting on the sofa. He remembered something Jasper had said and turned to Laurinda. “I have to go take care of something. I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”

“Alright, go ahead,” Laurinda said.

She actually wanted to talk to Irvin anyway. Adolphus’s timing couldn’t have been better.

Once he left Laurinda’s room, Adolphus headed quickly toward Adah’s ward. As soon as he stepped off the elevator, he heard shouting coming from inside.

Passing the nurses’ station, he noticed a few nurses looking completely drained. He went straight into the department head’s office.

Adolphus glanced out the window at the softly falling snow, thinking it over. “Yeah, we can go home. But you still have to be careful, okay? No getting your hands wet. You have to put ointment on every day, on time.”

“No problem,” Laurinda agreed right away. She would have promised almost anything if it meant getting out of the hospital.

Seeing how eager she was to leave, Adolphus helped her get dressed, then left to handle the discharge paperwork. When he came back, he was pushing a wheelchair.

Laurinda frowned at the wheelchair by the bed. She was feeling fine except for her hands. There was no reason she needed a wheelchair to leave, was there?

And honestly, just looking at it brought back memories of those dark months when she’d needed one before. It made her uncomfortable.

“My hands are the only thing hurt. Everything else is fine. I can walk out of here myself.”